Continuing its steady trend of significant growth over the years, Path of Exile developer Grinding Gear Games has revealed the next major update coming to the free-to-play action-RPG. In the upcoming Blight expansion, players will take on a questline that introduces a new tower defense mode, yielding even more loot to outfit your characters with. This new update follows a set of other new expansions in the past year that have overhauled a significant part of the game, introducing new events and storylines for players to take part in.

Just before its reveal, we got an early look at the new content, which releases on September 6 for PC, and on PS4 and Xbox One September 9. The Blight update introduces a new storyline involving an NPC named Sister Cassia who tasks players to repel the encroaching corruption that's taken root across the world. To fight off these waves of monsters, you'll need to construct complex machines to help stem the tide. According to the developers, the intent of these Blight encounters is to offer players a chance to take on bite-sized events that can open up access to better loot. The reward for clearing these fights are items called Oils, which can buff existing gear and produce new items for your character.

As is tradition, the new expansion will also introduce a new suite of quality-of-life changes. These include revamps to the Atlas of Worlds questing system, new class and skill tweaks, and several fixes focusing on league play. Following the reception from previous expansions, the developers wanted to focus more on letting players experience the game at their own pace, and take on events in the order they want.

Here's a quick rundown of all the key features in the Blight update:

Blight League: The new expansion will introduce a new NPC named Sister Cassia, who allows players to access the new Blight Encounters. These events will focus on tower defense style gameplay against new monsters. Players can also acquire special Blighted maps, which open up access to new higher-end areas with greater rewards.

Revised Atlas: The Atlas of Worlds update will receive some upgrades once again. In the Blight expansion, players can now interact with Masters in the player hideout. Furthermore, new Master missions are available for players to dive into.

Gear Enchants: A new item set to appear in Path of Exile are the Oils, which can imbue existing gears with specific properties. Combining oils can even produce new equipment, such as rings and amulets.

Class Changes: Certain player-made archetypes are seeing something of a revamp. For instance, the Necromancer archetype will now allow for greater control of your minions. Furthermore, the Shadow class' Saboteur archetype will have its mine skill altered to allow for greater control.

Following several expansions, and the PS4 launch, 2019 has been an excellent year for Path of Exile. The Blight update looks to be another fun event to take part, which continues to surprise with what the action-RPG can offer. The developers stated that they plan to reveal more of what's to come with the free-to-play game at the upcoming ExileCon event in November.